We get asked all the time: ‘Hey Guitar Hunter, can you help me identify how old my vintage Fender amplifier is?’

Therefore, instead of answering all of you individually, we thought it was best to make a short and direct guide to How to date your vintage Fender amplifier. This way, you also learn a bit of Fender history and, more importantly, about the history of your own Fender amplifier.

Note! This guide only covers Fender amplifiers made before 1980, as this is the period we specialize in.

1948 Fender Dual Professional amplifier.

After Doc Kauffman left the K&F project in ’46, Leo Fender came out with a new line of amps made in hardwood cabinets with matching wooden handles. These amplifiers are now known as the Woodie amps and are the first official Fender amplifiers.

They came in gleaming blonde maple, black walnut, and dark mahogany, and occasionally oak was also used. The new line of amplifiers came in three different models: The Princeton amp featuring a 1x 8” speaker, the Deluxe amp featuring a 1x 10” speaker (which was labeled “Model 26”), and the Professional amp featuring a 1x 15” speaker.

The Deluxe and the Professional came with both a mic and instrument input. Other features include pointer knobs, grill cloth in colors such as red, blue, and yellow/gold, and three protective metal strips mounted over the speaker opening.

1946 Fender Model 26 Deluxe amplifier.

1948 Fender Dual Professional Amp – V-Front Cabinet.

1954 Fender Twin Amp 5C8 – Wide Panel.

1950 Fender Deluxe Amp 5A3 – TV Front Panel.

1958 Fender Twin Amp 5F8-A – High Power – Narrow Panel.

Brownface (1959-1963)

In the summer of 1959, Leo Fender introduced a new amplifier called the Vibrasonic, featuring a new brown Tolex covering around the amplifier and a Maroon or Wheat-colored grille cloth. There are few early examples of Brownface amps with Tweed-era grille cloth.

The control plate was now moved from the top of the amplifier to the front, as it was more convenient for the player. Furthermore, the plate was now dark brown instead of chrome. The new ‘Brownface’ amps featured brown ‘Barrel’ knobs, a plastic handle, and a flat metal ‘Fender’ logo screwed to the grill cloth.

All the amps from the ‘professional’ series—Vibrasonic, Super, Bandmaster, Pro, and Twin—now featured tremolo and had the volume placed in the middle of the controls as follows: Input, Bass, Treble, Volume, Speed, Intensity.

Later in ’60, the volume control switched places with the bass control, now as follows: Input, Volume, Treble, Bass, Speed, Intensity, presence. In early ’63, Fender announced the new model Vibroverb, which was the first amp to feature built-in reverb, as opposed to having the reverb tank on the side.

List of Fender Brownface amplifiers:

• Vibrasonic Amp
• Concert Amp
• Super Amp
• Bandmaster Amp
• Pro Amp
• Deluxe Amp
• Princeton Amp
• Vibroverb Amp
• Vibrolux Amp

Blonde Era (1960-1964)

Fender introduced the Blonde Tolex to their new piggy-back amplifiers and the Twin Amp in 1960.

These amps featured a blonde Tolex covering and a wheat or maroon-colored grille cloth.

The control plate was moved from the top of the amplifier to the front and changed from chrome to black.

They featured either white ‘Barrel’ knobs or black ‘Skirted’ knobs. The latter stayed on into the ‘blackface’ era.

List of Fender Blonde amplifiers:

• Tremolux
• Bassman
• Showman
• Bandmaster
• Twin Amp

1962 Fender Twin Amp 6G8-A in Blonde tolex.

Blackface Era (1963-1967)

At the NAMM show in the summer of ’63, Fender introduced the new Twin Reverb alongside the new ‘Blackface’ amplifier lineup.

These amplifiers featured a black Tolex covering and a silver sparkle grille cloth.

The control plate was now black and featured black ‘Skirted’ knobs with numbers on them, instead of the numbers being painted on the control plate.

On rare occasions between mid-’63 and mid-’64, while Fender was still transitioning from the Brownface/Blonde era to the Blackface era, Fender used white ‘Barrel’ knobs on their Blackface amps on models such as the Princeton or Bassman. These are now known as ‘Tuxedo’ amps. What’s more interesting is that they still feature the old Brownface/Blonde circuit while sporting the new black tolex aesthetic.

Example of a 1964 Fender Princeton Amp 6G2 – black Tolex with white ‘Barrel’ knobs, also known as ‘Tuxedo’.

The bottom-of-the-line Champ Amp 5E1 was, until ’64, still featured in Tweed covering, a top-mounted control plate, and “chicken-head” knobs.

However, rare examples include the Champ amp with the 5E1 circuit and the above-mentioned features but in black Tolex instead of Tweed.

By late ’64, the Champ Amp was also up-to-date with a front control plate, silver sparkle grille cloth, and so on.

A Vibro Champ Amp was also added to the line, featuring speed and intensity knobs and an extra tube.

Example of a rare transition year ’64 Fender Champ Amp. It features the 5E1 circuit of the Tweed-version as well as the top-mounted control plate and “chicken-head” knobs, but with a black Tolex.

Fender made many changes to their amplifiers in the early stages of the ‘Blackface’ era.

For example, the 1×15 Pro Amp was replaced with the 2×12 Pro Reverb Amp in early ’65.

The 1×12 Vibrolux was replaced with the 2×10 Vibrolux Reverb in mid-’64.

The short-lived 1×15 Vibroverb Amp was only in production from mid-’63 through fall ’64, and the 4×10 Concert Amp was discontinued in early ’65.

List of Fender Blackface amplifiers:

• Twin Reverb Amp
• Princeton Amp / Princeton Reverb Amp / Tuxedo Model
• Deluxe Amp / Deluxe Reverb Amp
• Vibrolux Amp / Vibrolux Reverb Amp
• Pro Amp / Pro Reverb Amp
• Concert Amp
• Super Reverb Amp
• Vibroverb Amp
• Tremolux Amp
• Bandmaster Amp
• Bassman Amp / Tuxedo Model
• Showman Amp / Dual Showman

One of the earliest examples of a Fender Vibroverb Amp AA763 – Blackface model from late-’63.

Silverface Era (1967-1980)

When Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in ’65, many changes occurred, primarily in the production numbers. Blackface amplifiers were still available without a notable change in quality until the last month of ’67. However, throughout ’67, Fender also introduced a new aesthetic to their amplifier line, the so-called ‘Silverface’ lineup.

Fender amps from this era still feature a black Tolex covering. The biggest aesthetic differences are the now shiny silver control plate with blue lettering and a blue silver sparkle grille cloth. Early editions of the Silverface amplifiers came with an aluminum trim edge, which is known today as the ‘Drip Edge’ amplifiers.

These amplifiers are essentially the same as ‘Blackface’ amps, with only different looks, which is also why they are more valuable than the later ‘Silverface’ amps without ‘Drip-Edge’ specifications.

Note: The Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp was so popular during the mid-1960s that Fender retained its original circuit design until late 1968, even after fully adopting the Silverface aesthetic.

The aluminum trim edge was dropped in ’69. Silverface amplifiers got an additional ‘Master volume’ in the early ’70s and a pull-knob ‘boost’ control on the volume pot in the late ’70s. The logo also had the words ‘made in USA’ added.

Using Fender Amplifier Tube Chart Codes To Date Your Fender Amp

Fender amplifiers from around 1953 until 1969 almost always have a two-letter ink stamp that indicates the year and month the amp was assembled. You can find the tube chart by looking on the left or right wall inside the back of the amp. This is one of the easiest ways to determine when a vintage Fender amp was made.

First letter: Year
Second letter: Month

Example of a 1962 Fender Concert Amp 6G12-A – Brownface with the tube chart code LI indicating September 1962.

Using Transformer Codes to Date Your Fender Amplifier

Fender amplifiers from around 1953 until 1969 almost always have a two-letter ink stamp that indicates the year and month the amp was assembled. You can find the tube chart by looking on the left or right wall inside the back of the amp. This is one of the easiest ways to determine when a vintage Fender amp was made.

Another place to look at when determining when your amplifier was built is the date codes of the power and output transformers.

The transformers are two rectangular boxes hanging down from the chassis on the inside back of the amp. Fender utilized a few different brands of transformers, but the most common are Schumacher and Triad.

The power transformer is the larger black rectangular box on either the right or left side of the chassis. The output transformer is the smaller aluminum-colored rectangular box usually placed in the middle of the chassis.

Both of these transformers usually have two date codes on them. Only the bottom one is relevant for dating the amplifier. A date code is designed like this: ‘000-0-00’. The first three digits are the manufacturer’s code.

Here, you can see the codes for the two most used manufacturers, Schumacher and Triad. The middle single digit indicates the last digit of the year. The last two digits indicate the week of the year.

Schumacher manufacturer’s code: 606
Triad manufacturer’s code: 830

Example of how to read the transformer date code:

Example of a power transformer.

The output transformer used in the example below with date code ‘606-8-26’.

Let’s take a Silverface Champ Amp – Drip Edge amplifier as an example. The output transformer date code for this amplifier is ‘606-8-26’. As you can see above, ‘606’ is the Schumacher manufacturer’s code. The middle digit ‘8’ could be ’58, ’68, or ’78. To identify the correct decade, we have to look at other parts of the amplifier. Since this amp is a Silverface, we can quickly remove ’58 from the equation, as a ’58 Champ is a Tweed. Luckily, this Champ Amp is a Drip Edge, meaning it has the aluminum trim edge, which was only built for a short time in the late ’60s. Therefore, it can only be a ’68.

However, if your amp doesn’t have such an obvious period indicator, we can also use the serial number engraved on the chassis to identify the period. The serial number of this amplifier indicates that the amp was assembled in ’68-’69, and therefore the transformer code tells us this is a ’68. The last two digits, ’26’, indicate the 26th week of the year.

In summary, this output transformer code indicates that the transformer was made by Schumacher in the 26th week of 1968.

Using Speaker Codes to Date Your Fender Amplifier

Just like with transformer date codes, speaker date codes are set up the same way: manufacturer code – last digit of the year – week of the year.

Fender primarily used either Jensen speakers or their own Fender Oxford speakers.

Fender began using their own logo on Oxford speakers around 1960. Prior to this, Oxford speakers were typically branded with the Oxford logo. The manufacturer’s code is listed beneath.

Jensen manufacturer’s code: 220
Oxford manufacturer’s code: 465

Example of a Jensen speaker with their own logo from a 1954 Fender Twin Amp Tweed 5C8 – Wide Panel. This particular speaker has the date code ‘220419’, indicating it was built in the 19th week of 1954.

Example of an Oxford speaker with a Fender logo from a 1962 Fender Concert Amp 6G12-A – Brownface. This particular speaker has the date code ‘465-233’ indicating it was built in the 33rd week of 1962.

Example of an Oxford speaker before Fender put their logo on them. This particular speaker has the date code ‘465-636’, indicating the 36th week of 1956. In the early years, the Oxford speakers were primarily used on the smaller amplifiers, such as the 5F1 Champ Amp and the 5F2 Princeton Amp.

How to Date Your Vintage Fender Reverb Unit

Fender introduced the original standalone 6G15 reverb unit in 1961, designed by Fender engineer Bill Turner. It was Fender’s first dedicated outboard effect and became integral to the surf music movement.

The 6G15 featured an all-tube circuit consisting of one 12AT7 (driver), one 6K6GT (reverb driver), and one 12AX7 (recovery/gain stage). It used a 6-spring Accutronics reverb tank and offered three user controls: Dwell, Mix, and Tone, allowing much greater control than the built-in amp reverbs that appeared later.

The first 6G15 reverb units that came in 1961 were finished in brown Tolex with brown or wheat grille cloth and were in production until 1964.

In 1962, Fender also introduced the Blonde Tolex reverb units with wheat grille cloth and were in production through 1964.

In late 1963 and onward, the units adopted the black Tolex with silver sparkle grille cloth, in line with the Blackface amp cosmetics of the time. The circuit remained largely unchanged during this cosmetic shift.

The reverb units were discontinued in 1966. The Vibroverb-Amp 6G16 – Brownface was the first Fender amplifier to feature a built-in reverb.

A 6G15 reverb unit features a tube chart just like a regular Fender amp and is the best way to date a reverb unit.

It also features a reverb driver that is dated the same way as a transformer.